Starfall and Friends
by Zaphire the Above
Summary: Starfall, an ex-Autobot, with a crew of mis-matched Cybertronians of various backgrounds -some more shady than others- go through space, just trying to wait out the war between Autobots and Decepticons. With one of her friends injured and in a coma, Starfall has to seek help from an outside source. (rating will go up as it continues)


Starfall's lips turned down slightly as she gazed down at the controls, her hands gripping the sides of her chair tightly. Gadget was sitting next to her, silent as she typed in commands into the ship's computer. The pink and red seeker femme didn't know what her companion was doing, but as long as they didn't end up in an asteroid field or run into any Decepticons, Starfall was fine with Gadget taking the lead. Even though Whistle was the only one with any true piloting skills, Gadget was a quick learner if the past emergencies were anything to go by.

Zodiac was in their shared room brooding as usual. The triple changer didn't really like to talk much and Starfall thought that brooding and short tempers were just the medic ways. Though First Aid was nothing like his mentor Ratchet.

Speaking of medics and mentors, the pink and red femme never did ask who Zodiac's mentor was. But then again, learning medical was never a necessity until the war broke out and medics, no matter the experience, were valued very highly. Though Zodiac was an ex-Decepticon, the femme thought of him as one of her friends. They had spent a Decivorn (8.3 years) together along with Gadget, Whistle, Divelane and Ripkick. She never judged them on their backgrounds, only of whom they were as an individual. She herself was an ex-Autobot and she had to say, the life of a wanderer was looking pretty good despite the cramped space.

Triple changers weren't small in any means, but somehow there was room on this small ship for the five of them: three seekers, a triple changer, and two grounders. There were only two berthrooms, the cockpit/control room, the engines, the wash racks and the cargo hold. Despite the means of how the six of them met, Starfall was glad. It might be bad, but if the war hadn't started, the seeker knew they wouldn't have met and Starfall would have been stuck living her life as a noble and being an outcast.

The Autobots may have given her freedom and will and all that jazz, but she couldn't take losing friends to the war anymore. She couldn't take thinking she might not be seeing most of them again before a battle. And there were so many spies during the early days of the war that she thought she picked the wrong side late in the night while laying on her berth in Iacon -the Autobot's capital-.

Gadget was a canary yellow colored grounder with stunning ruby optics -one of the main traits of a Kaonian-, her doorwings arched upwards gracefully on her back. Starfall could tell the grounder femme was uncomfortable with the chair but Gadget never complained once during their years in space. The femme seeker's wings ached as well, but she was used to it after all this time. Starfall would grumble about it on occasion, it never lasted long however.

"So, where's our next destination?" Divelane asked as he draped himself over the back of Starfall's seat.

The other five Neutrals had silently made Starfall their leader, since they learned that the pink and red seeker didn't like being the subordinate for long (no matter how long she had served under Optimus Prime). Starfall let her optics wander over to Gadget who glanced at Divelane, not saying a word she went back to what she was doing. Silence reigned for a moment before she spoke, "We're heading to a small planet on the outskirts of the Messier 82 galaxy. The scanners show that the small planet has the resources to fill our quota for spare parts, both for the ship and for us."

Messier 82 was three galaxies away from Messier 85 and two away from GN-z11 which was close to the Milky Way. Their ship was fairly close to Messier 82; however, it would be about a Steller Cycle (400 days) before they would even be close to their planned planet. "Isn't that like, a long time away?" Divelane asked, tilting his helm to the side a little. "And shouldn't Whistle be at the wheel since he used to be a Wrecker?" Wreckers were required to know how to fly a ship, albeit one mech ships.

Gadget shrugged her shoulders, not looking at the mech behind Starfall who was looking between them.

Gadget just vented a sigh. "Zodiac said Whistle shouldn't do any flying after what happened back on the previous planet we went to a Sub-Cycle (7.5 months) ago." Starfall remembered clearly what happened back on that infested planet. The six of them had been looking for supplies for their ship -mainly fuel at that point in time- and Whistle thought it would be a great idea to go poking around. Thankfully the ex-Wrecker had been in the immediate area so Zodiac and Ripkick were able to go save his sorry aft. Unfortunately, Whistle had been badly damaged and had gotten a few viruses into his systems. So, the six Neutrals were forced to stay on the hostile planet while Whistle recovered enough for the long trip to a planet they could get help on.

Zodiac was not a pleased mech when they had finally departured after a Gigacycle (30 days). From what the triple changer had told Starfall, Whistle had gotten mostly superficial wounds, albeit internally from whatever had attacked him and the nasty viruses that the grounder had caught. Gadget had to take the others' place as piolet and she was not happy at all. Starfall watched as Divelane's faceplates took on a dark look, the mech most likely remembering what had happened to their friend before the look disappeared and he sauntered back into the berthroom where Zodiac and Whistle were.

It must have been nice, Starfall mused one time, being able to just lie in the berth all the time without having to work. However, as the unofficial leader of the small band of Neutrals, Starfall had work to do.

Sometimes the seeker hated being leader, but it did have its perks occasionally.

As a Meta-Cycle (13 months) passed, Whistle's condition didn't seem to have changed much and it was worrying everyone. Were it the wounds? Was it the viruses inside their friend? Starfall didn't know any of the answers and it frustrated her about how she couldn't do much to help. Her expertise laid with physical wounds. Zodiac was the only one amongst them with any sort of training with viruses, even though the knowledge was little. The good news was, they were nearing Messier 82 with each passing hour. Last Quartex (1 Earth Month) they had refueled their ship before taking off again.

Bad news, they didn't run into any Neutrals yet and Gadget and Starfall both had the hopes that their next planet would have some Cybertronian faces that could help them out. Because they were running dangerously low on Energon. Even in his coma, Whistle still required the blue liquid to survive. Starfall missed her friends' friendly arguments with Ripkick and Divelane. It kept her from being lonely, stopped her from having to think about everything and just listen to the banter between friends.

It amazes Starfall how the six of them could get along despite having practically nothing in common aside from being Neutrals. _I guess life can find a way when it comes to loneliness._ The pink and red femme thought to herself with a small, sad smile as she gazed out into space.

None of them even knew what was going on with the war anymore. They hadn't heard any news from anyone so they have no idea if the Autobots won, or the Decepticons, or neither and they killed each other, leaving only the Neutrals left in the whole galaxy…

"Gadget, how much longer?" Starfall asked tiredly, running a servo down her faceplates. "We should be in the Messier 82 galaxy soon Starfall, just one more Qurtex to go okay?" The addressed femme replied in the same tired tone. At least visiting other planets -even if it is out of necessity- it kept them from going stir crazy. "Alright." Starfall said with a shrug, biting her lower lip component in a show of worry. Gadget looked at the blue optic femme, watching silently as Starfall worried in silence in front of the ship's controls. "Starfall, would you like to check up on Whistle?" Gadget asked, her tone understanding as the red and pink femme nodded her helm to the question. "Then go. I can look after the ship for a little while." Gadget jerked a finger over to the berthroom where Whistle was.

"Thank you, Gadget. It means a lot." Starfall whispered with a grateful smile towards the canary yellow femme before getting up from the seat. Making her way to the door of the berthroom, nervousness started to take hold of her circuitry. She didn't know why but she was nervous about seeing Whistle, even though he was in a coma with Zodiac watching over him. _The ever so reliable Zodiac…_ Starfall thought to herself before raising a servo and knocking on the door. Three quick raps. One. Two. Three.

Starfall waited in silence for the okay.

"Come in," Zodiac said, his gruff voice muffled by the door but the commander could hear him still. The seeker femme typed in the code with stiff fingers before the door opened with a soft ' _whoosh_ ' noise. The sight that greeted her was Zodiac sitting on the edge of the berth by Whistle's unconscious form. Ripkick curled in a corner just staring at the two. Divelane must have been in the other room because Starfall didn't see him.

The room wasn't very big, enough to fit two berths and an end table that held a half empty cube of energon in it with a syringe beside it, most likely used for getting the stuff into Whistle.

Zodiac was looking at her with those red optics of his as she made her way over to him and the berth. Starfall could see that Whistle was covered in a thermo blanket, his faceplates slack and suggesting he was just asleep but everyone in the ship knew better. The Seeker knelt on the floor, not caring that her paint was being scuffed in the process. When one was trying to survive, one didn't bother with small things like paint – even though her shades were rather hard to create.

The triple changer watched silently as the femme shakily reached out with a shaking servo to grip Whistle's slack one and she gripped as tightly as she could without damaging him.

Zodiac never really left the room unless it was to gather energon or to use the wash racks.

"I wish he would wake up…" Starfall whispered in the silent room. "I just want to know that he's okay." She added, lowering her helm onto her servos that were clasping Whistle's own tightly. if Whistle hadn't been such an idiot, he wouldn't have gotten himself into a coma, he wouldn't be worrying everyone so. But that's how things went, can't change the past, only make the future brighter. Zodiac placed his large black servo on Starfall's shoulder, mindful of her wings that were quivering slightly in distress. "Don't worry Starfall, he'll be okay." Zodiac whispered, trying to be comforting but not really knowing how as he watched the coolant tears stream down her silver faceplates as her blue optics stayed glued to Whistle. "I wish he wasn't hurt…" Starfall muttered, her blue optics dim and her wings lowering, pressing against her back firmly.

They stayed in silence for over a Groon (1 hour), Zodiac silently comforting the femme while Ripkick stayed silent in the background, possibly having fallen asleep in the corner he never moved from. The triple changer will scold him later but right now their unofficial leader needed him, she needed support right now.

" _Attention passengers, we are going to need to make a pit stop soon for some supplies so I would suggest you buckle up because this is going to be a bumpy ride onto the planet._ " Gadget said over the intercom before it abruptly cut off and Starfall had to crack a smile at the terminology before she stood up.

She looked at the medic before saying, "Thank you, really." She ducked her helm in embarrassment before adding, "I appreciate it-" Zodiac waved her words off with a few flicks of his wrist as he eyed the comatose Whistle. "It's nothing Starfall." He looked to her at this point, his red optics locking onto her blue ones. "It's best if you go help Gadget with landing the ship, in case someone tries to communicate with us." The Seeker femme nodded her helm in understanding before turning around and making her way out of the berthroom, the door ' _whooshing_ ' closed behind her.

Starfall made her way quickly to the ship's controls and sat herself down, Gadget glanced at her with a knowing look before she went back to what she was doing. Neither said anything at all during their trip into the planet's orbit. It was, as Gadget had said previously, a rather bumpy ride. Starfall got the ship's landing gears down and when the ship touched down, there was a thick cloud of dust and then the engines cut off once Gadget was sure that the surface was steady enough. The two pilots shared a quick smile before Divelane poked her head in the doorway, "Excuse me, but may I accompany you on the planet Stary? I _really_ don't want to stay on this ship any longer."

Starfall nodded her helm as she stood to her pedes. "I presume that Zodiac and Ripkick will be staying on the ship to keep an eye on things and make sure that Whistle will stay in a stable condition?"

Gadget and Divelane nodded their heads and the femme pilot spoke up, "I would like to stay here to, in case anyone stops by while you two are gone."

"Understandable. Alright, Divelane, you want to get the credits while I grab our bag?" Starfall asked and the other Seeker femme darted away to gather the things while Starfall went to her shared berthroom to get the bag. The bag being what they will need to either scavenge or what they bought. However, before she turned around, she let her blue optics stay on the small pistol in front of her. Debating whether or not to take it. if she took it, then she and Divelane would have a little more protection. But if she took it, then the others would have one less weapon to use to defend themselves.

…

Hopefully she and Divelane can find another weapon, she decided as she turned her back on the weapon and left the room, the lights in there turning off and shrouding it in darkness.

On their way out, Starfall and Divelane waved back to Gadget and Ripkick, shouts of 'be careful' and 'good luck' were exchanged before they separated. Putting the stuff in her sub-space, Starfall and Divelane transformed and took off into the sky. The red sandy ground underneath them. The sky was a slight reddish-purple color with plenty of dust clouds. "Ugh, so much sand and dust everywhere." Divelane whined as the sandy air whipped around them as they flew. "Yes well, hopefully we might be able to find something." Starfall replied with a soft chuckle, full of fondness. Even though they couldn't see each other's faces, they could tell the other was smiling. A scanner that Divelane had beeped a couple times and the two nosedived downwards the ground. Transforming at the last minute, landing on one knee before standing up straight, Divelane took out the device. It was a scanner for energon that they had taken from a Decepticon a while back. It was very helpful to them since it saved their hides many times.

"So how far below do you think that the energon is?" Starfall asked jokingly and Divelane pulled a face at the thought, the sand and dust clinging to their frames, discoloring them slightly. "Welp, I guess we can start digging." Starfall announced as she took out a shovel from her sub-space and the turquoise Seeker femme sighed, putting away the energon scanner and took out a shovel herself before the two started digging.

It had seemed like groons (hours) before they finally found the energon crystals. Raw energon on a desert planet. "A-ha! There we go~" Divelane sang with glee. "Let's start gathering it and then continue our quest." Starfall said, happy that they finally found some energon, even if it was raw. The blue glow gave them enough light to work into the night as they harvested it. the night time was extremely cold and dark, even the stars in the sky were no help in lighting everything up since it was very dusty. There weren't many landforms around and it was mostly flat, the sand and dust not having been disturbed in forever.


End file.
